Pushing through the crowd, she grasped the arm of the woman who was talking. “Who was the girl? What was she wearing?” she demanded tensely.
“A blue sweater,” the woman recalled. “Her hair was flying wild and her face was streaked with dirt as if she’d already been in the fire. I thought maybe she lived here.”
“It was Sally,” Penny murmured, her heart sinking to her shoe tops. “Why hasn’t someone brought her out?”
“No human being could get into that house now,” declared a man who stood close by. “The firemen aren’t here yet. Anyway, we ain’t sure there’s anyone inside.”
“I saw the girl run in, I tell you!” the woman insisted.
To debate over such a vital matter infuriated Penny and Jack. Sally was nowhere in the crowd and they were convinced she had entered the blazing building. Flames were blowing from some of the lower windows and smoke was dense. It was obvious that no man present was willing to risk his life to ascertain if the girl were inside.
“She must have tried to reach the basement!” Penny cried. “Oh, Jack, we’ve got to bring her out!”
Nodding grimly, Jack stripped off his coat. Throwing it over his head as a shield, he darted into the burning building. Penny, close at his heels, had no protection.
Inside the house, smoke was so black they could not see three feet ahead. Choking, gasping for breath, they groped their way through the living room to the kitchen. Penny jerked open the door leading into the cellar.
Flames roared into her face. The entire basement was an inferno of heat. No human being could descend the stairs and return. If Sally were below, she was beyond help.